Another step in the right direction:[Only registered users can see links.]

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Today, the automaker extended the timeline to 2025 and said that it will introduce “more than 30 new electric vehicles during the next 10 years”. Earlier this year, CEO Matthias Müller was talking about both all-electric and plug-in hybrids, but now he is making a statement to go all-electric and confirmed that the “more than 30 new models” will all be “purely battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs)”.

I was reminded of The Doors' When the Music's Over. It has, I think, one of the first ever references to climate change - or at least our greedy use of the Earth's resources.

What have they done to the earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
And tied her with fences and dragged her down

I was reminded of The Doors' When the Music's Over. It has, I think, one of the first ever references to climate change - or at least our greedy use of the Earth's resources.

What have they done to the earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
And tied her with fences and dragged her down

Another great article on the utility transition that is taking place now.

[Only registered users can see links.]

Doesn't matter what a politician or a CEO says, the grid transition to sustainable generation is happening and will happen because it makes economic sense:

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Energy, capacity and, to some extent, ancillary services have long been the measures of the value of traditional generation. DER adds value streams in risk mitigation opportunities, grid services, preventing transmission and distribution losses, and providing societal benefits, he said. “This is moving to the value of locational and performance-based services to the grid by DER.”

There are so many negative articles on Tesla right now, the people who are shorting the stock trying to make it go down, that I haven't bothered to post any because it's all bullshit.

But THIS, this is a great article with great timing:

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there's a cottage industry springing up of people who are trying to make a name, or a living, or both, disparaging Tesla and its products. Instead of celebrating the existence of a self-autonomous electric car, they are focused on whatever individual gain they can scrape for themselves off the bottom of Elon Musk's shoe.

Remember what I said about the inevitable transition of the grid to renewable energy because of the economics five posts up (#104)?

BOOM.

Anyone live in NY?

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New York utility Rochester Gas and Electric last week issued a request for proposals, seeking to defer $11.8 million in substation investment by adding distributed energy resources in its territory to address growing demand.

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In New York, the state's Reforming the Energy Vision has pressed utilities to seek interconnected, distributed resources as ways to avoid costly system upgrades

That's pretty awesome. Forgot that renewables would eventually be more cost effective than upgrading old facilities. Surprised it started already, I guess. Good stuff.

Yesir!

If anyone has seen headlines about Tesla wanting to buy SolarCity, this is why. Tesla wants to become THE energy company for residential and utility - buy your car, panels, and battery storage from one place.

Those that see where we are headed with the transportation and grid understand this merger, those that do not are shouting at the rooftops with negative articles.

Just like with the transition to EVs and a renewable grid, so will be autonomous driving:

[Only registered users can see links.]

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"No one incident will stop the NHTSA from promoting highly automated driving development," said Rosekind during his keynote address at the Automated Vehicles Symposium here in San Francisco.

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Rosekind insisted that the US Department of Transportation is taking a "forward leaning" position on highly automated driving. He justified that by citing the 32,500 traffic fatalities that occurred on US roads in 2015, and how 94 percent of those were due to driver error. He said that highly automated driving could eliminate 19 out of 20 collisions, potentially saving 30,000 or more lives per year.

Here's the kicker:

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that the NHTSA would not accept technology that was merely as safe as human drivers.

So one day (I assume within the next decade/decade and a half) there will be a point where the question will be asked - Do we need to do away with human driving if the statistics show it's less safe for society?

I'm sure this will be a hot topic politically, but I think it will be inevitable.....at least on major roads and highways.

Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments (combact SUV and Truck.....yes truck!)
Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
Enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using it

and if you haven't read his first one, here ya go!

[Only registered users can see links.]

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To quote one of my new favorite shows, Mr. Robot:

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Elliot Alderson: Every day, we change the world, but to change the world in a way that means anything, that takes more time than most people have. It never happens all at once. It’s slow. It’s methodical. It’s exhausting. We don’t all have the stomach for it.

I think this sums up why people still don't get this company and it's main man........Elon set out to change the world ten years ago and did just that. It took time. Not 5 quarters. Not X number of deliveries. Fuck those numbers and speculation. It's happening before our very own eyes.

I want you guys to understand why I'm so adamant about Tesla and the transition to sustainable transportation. The Tesla Gigafactory opens tomorrow and the press got to visit it yesterday.

Here is a great article on it and one key point I would like to highlight to show everyone why Tesla is the leader in this transition:

[Only registered users can see links.]

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Tesla expects to hit the $100/kWh mark at or before 2020 for batteries which is close to the inflection point at which it begins costs less to build an electric powertrain than ICE even without subsidies or the savings of electricity vs. gas.

Nobody else has this price point and it's less than 4 years away. Right now Tesla's price is somewhere less than $190/kWh vs. others like LG Chem (who supplies for GM in their Bolt that is coming out) who's price is in the mid-to upper $200s.

"That's what the Gigafactory is about....it's about being able to make enough electric cars, enough stationary battery packs, that it actually moves the needle from a global carbon production perspective. So, that it actually does really change the world."

Poor BMW.....they know they can't compete with Tesla and the Model 3, so they have to spend money on making commercials like these.......

oh, and people wait for a product that is actually worth a damn. This is old technoloy. Hybrid? Hybrid? Why would I spend over $45,000 on a hyrbid that goes like 14 miles on a charge, when I could spend $35,000 for a 200 mile EV and never spend on gas/oil changes again?